White Hat’s

Top 100 Chamber Music Works

Top 100 Chamber Music Works

White Hat’s

Top 100 Chamber Music Works

During 2008, the ABC conducted a survey of its listeners to find their top
100 chamber music which prompted us at White Hat to retrieve our own list
which we had made some years earlier.

Firstly we had to set some bounds as to what we would
consider as 'chamber music'. There is no hard and fast definition of 'what
is chamber music' and nor should there be. However in the end we had to draw
some arbitrary lines in the grey area for the purposes of this list. They
are not 'right' or wrong' and you are perfectly welcome to come up with
different criteria. For music to be included on our Top 100 Chamber Music
List we decided it should:

Be written for specified instruments. This eliminates
certain 'pure theoretical' music such as Bach'sArt of Fugue
and most Renaissance instrumental music including wonderful works such
as Byrd'sThe Leaves Be
Green.

Should not contain 'doubling' instruments (multiple
instruments playing the same part throughout as in the string section of
an orchestra). This alas eliminates some great works such as Mozart'sSerenade for 13
Wind Instruments as well the sunny DvořákSerenade for Winds,
Op. 44.

Should be music designed to be performed without a
conductor. The presence of a conductor takes the music a step further
from 'a conversation between equals'. This unfortunately eliminates
great works like Richard Strauss'Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings and Stravinsky'sL'Histoire
du Soldat.

In the end here is what we came up with one day. The following day the
list would probably look different.

BachBrandenburg
Concerto No.3 - I know this is often played with multiple string
players per line, but Bach almost certainly conceived it as being played
either by nine individual string players (with continuo) and would have
been happy enough for those parts to be doubled.

VariousThe First Book of Consort Lessons (published
by Thomas Morley and containing arrangements of works by Dowland and others) -
Sophisticated, civilised music beautifully realised for the archetypal
English chamber ensemble of instruments of the late Renaissance [ABC -
unlisted]

HaydnPiano Trio
No.25 in G Major 'Gipsy Trio' - This trio ends with a gipsy-inspired
finale which is great fun. However it is very simple and very beautiful
slow movement which shows what Haydn can produce with very few notes.